Blogging from China

Hi everyone-

You all are reading these blogs before me. We can't read what we post here, so we hope you will forgive spelling and grammar errors. We've also had difficulty posting pictures, so while the more techno-savvy users can upload movies and pics from their laptops, we who are technologically limited to the $6 for 20 minute business centers are sorely lacking for eye candy.

We have our visa application review tomorrow at the U.S. Consulate. It is handled by our guides and we are not called unless there is a problem.

We then have a swearing in ceremony on Friday and fly home Saturday. We land at Dulles at 7 am Sunday morning - isn't that crazy???

The parks and shopping in Guangzhou have been great fun. We have really enjoyed our time here.

Will post the no news good news news tomorrow or Friday!!

You can watch Sunday night football at 9 am

A guest post from Mom-

For those of you who are wondering about access to the beloved American pasttime, the NFL - we are happy to report football is aired on ESPN at 9 am here in Guangzhou.

We took Genevieve for her get out of the country physical today and she passed with flying colors. She has walked a few steps since last week, but still prefers crawling or steadying with at least a finger.

Both girls seem to be enjoying the new hotel, and Genevieve is warming up to me and grandma both, but will still only take a bottle from Dad.

Dawna Thompson calls Bruce the "baby whisperer".

Juliette and Amelia are doing baths and sitting together at dinner and playing wonderfully during our down times. We are really glad to have Amelia around to keep Ju Ju entertained.

We are starting to miss home - even though we celebrated the doctor's appt with Thai food.

Miss you all!

The Third Level of Hades

Dear Readers-

Are you aware of the seven levels of Hades? I visited the third level last night on what was meant to be a quick trip from Nanning to Guangzhou. Our plane left the terminal with thirty babies on board. Not everyone was in their seats yet. The first sign things were amiss.

Genevieve doesn't really care for flying all that much. I tried to explain the thrill of lollipops and gum, but she didn't seem to grasp the power placed in her hands and her ability to get Mom and Dad to do whatever she wanted merely with a scream. She squirmed alot, but was otherwise quiet.

Not so for the newly French kids in front and behind us.

My mom can tell you the trick for flying with babies is to keep a bottle handy to help ear pressure by sucking. What to do when the baby has an ear infection and won't take a bottle?

Mom and Dad offered up the ever diplomatic lollipop solution after 10 minutes of ear piercing screaming. It helped a little, but the poor girl was in agony. The one in front of us also had an ear infection and wouldn't take a bottle, but she just cried.

Then the flight got longer and longer and longer until we finally landed.

We didn't get to our hotel room until 10 pm. No one had had any dinner except baby Evie (baby G's new name) who had a bottle on the bus.

Mom had to get dinner at McDonalds. Imagine her delight in a.) having to go to McDonalds in the first place, b.) essentially translating her order sixteen times through pantomime, pictures, and words, and c.) correcting the order as it came out piece by piece for the next 20 minutes.

I have a tummy ache today and my mom is blaming it on the McNuggets I ate at 11 pm last night.

On to brighter news. Our new hotel is GREAT!!! Big rooms, bright and sunny and near two fabulous parks - did I mention there is a Starbucks in the attached mall?

Mom suddenly seems much perkier.

We went to Shamian Island this morning and mom and dad bought Baby Evie a new stroller. Everyone's backs improved immediately.

This afternoon there is a bunch of paper work for mom, and big naps for everyone else - although it is my mantle to protest the nap through a great deal of cute behavior.

Now that I'm in Guangzhou, I'll post some pictures. I promise!

GuangXi and Nanning

A Guest Post from Mom.

We are finishing our third full day in GuangXi. Juliette and Genevieve are both doing very well. All of the adoption proceedings were completed Tuesday, so we are essentially waiting for a Chinese Passport for Genevieve - a process that takes 5 days.

We'll leave for Guangzhou on Saturday after we have received the passports Friday night.

Genevieve and Juliette are both doing great! Genevieve LOVES her dad, and Juliette has been having a great time with Grandma.

Genevieve has quite a bit of hair and beautiful eyes, she has super long lashes. She can be pretty shy at first, but loves to chatter. She is close to walking and crawls like a champion. Her heat rash is improving, but still has some signs of eczema.

Today we toured the countryside and visited a local farm and cultural park for the Zhuang minority region. GuangXi is an exceptionally beautiful portion of China, it has a rich cultural history and it has been a great experience to learn more about where Genevieve is from.

The weather is HOT! HUMID!! At least as bad as the worst day in DC, but the air conditioning is strong and the breezes are welcome. This trip has seemed more relaxed than the first trip for Juliette. Having grandma here helps a ton.

We will definitely be able to send pics from Guangzhou. We are all doing well and loving getting to know this sweet baby girl.

We do miss you all.

Where is the justice?

This baby Genevieve thing has gotten out of hand. I woke up this morning, found out I was sleeping with grandma, which could mean only one thing - Baby Genevieve was in the room with Mom and Dad!

I don't get it! I told Dad several times yesterday "pick me up, I'm the Baby" yet he keeps telling me "you'll always be my baby" and goes back to Genevieve. Even considering our location, where is the justice???

I put in two hard years cooing and smiling and cultivating their attention only to be banished to grandma when a baby shows up. Of course Genevieve herself doesn't help matters with her cutsie cooing baby stuff.

Oh Boy!

I spoke with Amelia Thompson yesterday, she is going through the same thing. What is a sister to do?

Dueling Banjos~

A guest post from Mom

Hi everyone,

We arrived in GuangXi last night, along with the other families, and went straight to the civil affairs offices to pick up the babies. There was much crying and gnashing of teeth between Juliette and Genevieve. Remember the Dueling Banjos song from Deliverance? That is how Juliette and Genevieve were crying last night.

About Genevieve, she is a sweet little girl! She has big brown eyes and lots of hair (and unfortunately a heat rash that makes her look like she's been working the grill at McDonalds for a couple of months). She started bonding with her dad right away. She has come to Mom pretty frequently (much more so than Juliette did) and has laughed and smiled.

We are halfway through the adoption process. We had our interview this morning and will finish things off this afternoon.

The beds at this hotel in GuangXi are ROCK HARD. There are NO Starbucks - which so far has been ok. There is NO English language TV (this is for Bruce, who lives for HBO and CNN Asia while he is here). The city and countryside are BEAUTIFUL. The topography flying in was quite mesmerizing. I don't know how much we will get out to see, but so far it lives up to its reputation.

I need to get back upstairs to relieve Dad of full responsibility for two.

Will try to send a picture with the next post!

Hawaii Time

Aloha everyone! While I've been in Beijing for the past two days, I think my body clock got stuck in Hawaii when we flew over.

The last couple of nights Mom and Dad have brought me down to the lobby at 2:00 or 3:00, and we played football, circle time, playdough, crafts. We've had SOOOO much fun at night, I haven't wanted to give it up. Of course, I've been getting a little cranky during the day, so Mom and Dad have cracked down and I am back to a far more normal schedule.

We have had a great time in Beijing (my daytime mood notwithstanding) visiting old friends, seeing the sites and meeting the other families. There are five girls from two-and-a-half to four years old who are really fun to play with. We like to do ring around the rosy in restaurants, among other places.

Tomorrow morning we fly to Nanning and we will pick up Baby Genevieve in the afternoon! We are all excited and nervous.

Please look for another post tomorrow or the next day and be thinking of us in the meantime.

Hong Kong and Beijing

A guest post from Mom!

We made it to Hong Kong and Beijing after some very long hours of travel. You don't even want to know how many lollipops we've gone through....

Juliette has been reunited with her buddy Amelia and is glad to have space from her mom and dad (can you say smother?).

We are all working to get on China time, which is getting better each day, but we aren't there yet.

Today is a day of sightseeing and shopping. We are looking forward to the Pearl Market.

More later!

D Day

Well it's time, the big travel day has finally arrived. In a few short days I will no longer be the baby! I keep telling them, " I want to be the baby, hold me, hold me, I am the little sister", but to no avail. As my baba says to me, "Homie don't play that game!" I have no idea what he means, but I generally don't get my way after he says it. --

Last minute preparations

We are all just about packed. Gramma flew in today and is asleep downstairs. Mom and I went to the bookstore and picked up a bunch of slim light books to take on the plane.

I started my new school today - got one day in before we leave for Hong Kong. We had graham crackers, sang songs, and did drawing projects. I liked it and came home ready for my nap.

Tomorrow mom needs to do a bunch of last minute stuff, get the house ready, and get us all out the door. I wonder if there will be time for the park?

We leave DC at 5 pm, we leave San Francisco at 1 am! We'll be in Hong Kong at 10 am.

Mom just booked the hotel in Hong Kong tonight, and we are going back to the Marco Polo. Mom and Dad are excited about how convenient the Marco Polo is to everything we want to do.

No one has mentioned visiting Disney Hong Kong. Don't they know how much I love Cinderella?

I probably won't get to post to the blog until Beijing.

We will be getting baby Genevieve in under a week! YAAAAAAYYY!!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Dear Genevieve,

Happy 1st Birthday! We can't wait to celebrate with you!

Love,

Juliette
Jennifer
Bruce

Baseball, Miss Nora, and Marco Polo

While there is so much sadness in the world, every day seems to be filled with hope. There is so much kindness in people!

Miss Nora has worked with my mom for seven and a half years-which is three times longer than I've been alive-to put it in perspective. Every time mom goes to a meeting with Miss Nora, she sees Miss Nora knitting. Miss Nora says it helps her concentrate, but mom secretly thinks Miss Nora is a really generous person who has a huge heart for others.

A couple of months ago, Miss Nora told mom she wanted to knit me a sweater. She also knitted one for Genevieve too so we would each have one. They turned out beautifully - see the pictures! Mine is the one with ladybugs and Genevieve's is the one I'm wearing in the picture. They are really soft and really warm. So, if you think you'd like a sweater knit by a pro - let mom know and she'll put you in touch with Miss Nora, who is a great knitter at great prices!!

We leave for China Tuesday. It is a little sad, because not all of the families are getting to travel at the same time. The families with girls from Hunan have to wait two extra weeks. Mom says that I am from Hunan, and as hard as such a wait would be, she would wait to get me because I am so special. We are very sad for those families though, and have them in our prayers.

Mom and Dad are really excited to be going back to Hong Kong and China. Hong Kong is where I had my very first vacation, and mom is trying to get us back to the very same hotel, the Marco Polo Hong Kong, that we stayed in two years ago.

Mom is sewing up stuff at work, but she keeps giving out her email address, which isn't a good sign for unplugging from the office.

Friday is my last day at the Thurgood Marshall Day Care Center. I am going to miss my friends, Jessica, Vincent, Jacobi, Cora, Noah M., Annadora, and Charles. I am also going to miss Miss Tina, Miss Gina, Miss Shatita, and Miss Zenaida. They have been GREAT teachers.

I start The Falls Church Day School Monday morning and only go one time before we leave. David Bowie wrote a song about changes, but I am WAAAAYY too young to know anything about that.

One more thing, tomorrow night is my last baseball game of the season. I LOVE going to baseball games. I like the noise, the bats, the balls, and most of all the cotton candy. I can't wait to sing "Take me out to the ballgame" with everyone if I make it to the seventh inning.

I'll sing it on the way home if I don't.

Miss Nora made this for me!

Post It Notes and Starbucks accessorizing Miss Nora's beautiful sweater!

We're traveling

We received word from our agency that we would be going to get Genevieve on September 15. Mom booked us a couple of days early to travel to Hong Kong for R&R before the big trip.

We are only 10 days out from getting on airplanes! Imagine the bags of lollipops mom will have to bring with all of the planes we will be getting on.

I can't believe we are finally going to China! I start a new school this week, and will get to meet my classmates before we go.

We put up curtains in Genevieve's room and added lamps. Mom has been distracted by work lately, there is a bunch of stuff she wants to get done before we go, and she also wants to do whatever she can to help the schools in the South recover from the hurricane.

Life is full of contradictions of joy and sorrow. Ecclesiastes has it right.